What my modern family means to me

May 22, 2017 |

Family is undoubtedly, the most important thing in the world to me. Recently, I was talking to some people I had never met before at one of the kids’ classes, it it struck me how different we all were. One mum was a step parent, another was an adoptive parent, one was a grandmother who had the child full time. And that is just in one small class! So when I was asked to think about what family meant to me (there is an interesting infographic provided by after the jump), I had to really think about it…

When it comes to me, family is, on one hand, is quite conventional. I am married and I currently have two children. We are a solid family unit, we do everything together and are dedicated to each other. We are the so called nuclear family of 2.4 children.

As soon as I step outside of my little bubble, in our extended families (I call them extended but to me, they are just “family”) there are divorcees, widows, single parents, adopted children, co-habiting couples and step children. We are a modern family without even thinking about it very much!

Family is of course, not just made up of blood relatives. Our friends can be like siblings; we can be connected to them as closely as any family member. As society changes, so will our definition of what we consider to be a ‘family’

There are a few things from the Slater and Gordon infographic I found particularly interesting:

– 7.9 million couples are without children, far more than couples with children. [This surprised me as I see so many children around I though that far more people have kids than don’t]

– 42% of marriages end in divorce [This is almost half, and again, that surprised me in a way, but then again, modern lives are so different and have so many more pressures].

– 49% of people had ‘very good’ relationships with their families [I wonder how everyone else feels!].

Reading the infographic actually reminded me of something; we haven’t got a will. I suppose in our 30s we still feel quite young, but the fact is, we need something written down if god forbid something happened to the two of us, I would want the children to be left to the right people and our assets to be safely put away for when they are older. This IS something we will get done this year.

Do you have any thoughts on the modern family? What does it mean to you?